During Israel’s Unilateral Cease-fire, Dozens of Rockets Fired from Gaza

Israel said the IDF will hold fire in most of the Gaza Strip for seven hours in order to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip and displaced Palestinians to return to their homes, starting at 10:00 a.m. on Monday.

During the cease-fire dozens of rockets were fired from Gaza on Israel, the IDF confirmed. Seventeen projectiles landed in Israeli territory or near IDF soldiers operating in Gaza, one rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome rocket defense system, and eight rockets landed in other areas of Gaza.

There were no injuries or damage caused in the rocket attacks.

The humanitarian truce would not apply in areas of the southern Gaza town of Rafah where Israeli forces are still operating, a Defense Ministry official said in a statement.

Immediately after the temporary cease-fire took effect, Palestinians accused Israel of breaking its seven-hour halt in fighting by bombing a house in Gaza City and killing one Palestinian.

Monday night, tt was reported that the Shin Bet and IDF jointly carried out a strike on a building in the Shati region of Gaza housing senior Islamic Jihad members on Monday morning.

The targets of the attack were Amar Arhim, a deputy Islamic Jihad brigade commander, and Ibrahim Masharawi, an Islamic Jihad battalion commander in the Sheikh Radwan region.

Mashawari was killed in the strike and Arhim was seriously injured.

The Shin Bet said Arhim orchestrated rocket fire on central Israel, and is a key figure in planting underground launchers and weapons manufacturing. Arhim took part in past terror attacks, such as the the attack on the fuel depot in the Karni Crossing in 2008, which killed two Israeli civilians.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said an eight-year-old girl was killed and 29 other people were wounded in the strike on a house in Shati camp, mostly women and children.

An IDF spokeswoman told The Jerusalem Post that she was checking the report.

Shortly after noon on Monday, Code Red sirens sounded in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council and the Sha’ar Henegev Regional Council, warning of rocket attacks despite Israel’s said observance of the humanitarian cease-fire.

Earlier Monday, Israel killed a senior commander of the Islamic Jihad who headed the group’s northern command, in a bombing of a house in Jabalya. The man was identified as Danyal Mansour.

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said he was in charge of the group’s intelligence in Gaza and spearheaded high-trajectory weapons attacks against Israel during Operation Protective Edge.

The IDF struck 100 targets in the last 12 hours and destroyed two tunnels. Early Monday morning the IAF attacked a Gazan militant in southern Gaza. A direct hit was confirmed.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least 15 people were killed Monday morning and several others injured in a neighborhood north of Gaza City, bringing the number of Gazans killed since midnight to 11, according to the report.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri responded to the Israeli announcement, calling it a unilateral step, meant to divert attention away from the Israeli massacres. “We do not trust this cease-fire and call upon our people to take precaution.”